Two-drug pharmaceutical container

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a two-drug pharmaceutical container in which it is possible to remove the cap without loosening its nozzle cap and container main body when its cap is turned in the opening direction at the time of administering eye drops or the like. 
     The container in which, on an outer surface of a nozzle section  12  of a container main body  1,  a small diameter annular section  14  on which upper stage external ratchet teeth  16  are formed and a large diameter annular section  15  on which lower stage external ratchet teeth  17  are formed are provided, and in a nozzle cap  2  whose body section  22  and sealing ring part  23  are jointed together so as to be breakable, upper stage internal ratchet teeth  28  and lower stage internal ratchet teeth  29  are provided on the inner surfaces of the body section  22  and the sealing ring part  23,  and the container is configured so that only the lower stage internal and external ratchet teeth  17  and  29  engage with each other to prevent turning in the opening direction in a closed state before use, and moreover, the upper stage internal and external ratchet teeth  16  and  28  engage with each other to prevent turning in the opening direction in a state in which the container main body is closed with the nozzle cap  2  without the sealing ring part  23.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a two-drug pharmaceutical containerwhose container main body containing a first ingredient is opened to adda second ingredient thereinto, and the container main body is thereafteragain closed to be used for the purpose of eye drops or the like. Inparticular, the present invention relates to a two-drug pharmaceuticalcontainer in which a ratchet mechanism is provided at its nozzle cap andcontainer main body in order to prevent inadvertent opening by a user,to prevent the nozzle cap from being loosened in the opening direction.

BACKGROUND ART

Conventionally, as a two-drug pharmaceutical container whose containermain body containing a first ingredient is opened to add a secondingredient thereinto, and the container main body is thereafter againclosed to be used for the purpose of eye drops or the like, for example,a two-drug pharmaceutical container in which a nozzle cap is screwedonto a container main body, a medicinal solution extracting orifice isprovided at a head section of the nozzle cap, and a cap is screwed ontothe head section, is known.

PRIOR ART DOCUMENT Patent Document

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Published Unexamined PatentApplication-Hei-7-257610

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention

However, since the direction of screwing the container main body and thenozzle cap, and the nozzle cap and the cap are the same in theconventional two-drug pharmaceutical container, the nozzle cap isrotated in the opening direction to remove the nozzle cap from thecontainer main body to add a second ingredient into the case main body,and the nozzle cap is rotated in the closing direction to close thecontainer main body, and thereafter, when the cap is rotated in theopening direction to remove the cap from the nozzle cap to administereye drops or the like, the nozzle cap as well may be rotated in theopening direction at the same time in some cases, and the medicinalsolution may spill out from the mouth portion of the loose containermain body in some cases.

Conventionally, a container including a ratchet mechanism in order notto allow its container main body and cap to be opened is known. Forexample, there is disclosed a container which is configured so thatratchet teeth are respectively provided on the outer side of theterminal end of its cervical part of the container and on the inner sideof the cap (Patent Document 1).

Then, a ratchet mechanism is expected to be used in order to prevent thenozzle cap from being loosened at the time of administering eye drops orthe like. However, the container disclosed in Patent Document 1 isapplicable as is to a single-drug pharmaceutical container, but is notapplicable as is to a two-drug pharmaceutical container associated withan operation of removing the nozzle cap in order to add a secondingredient into the container main body containing a first ingredient.

The present invention has been achieved in consideration of theabove-described circumstances. It is a primary object of the presentinvention to provide a two-drug pharmaceutical container in which anozzle cap is screwed onto a container main body, a medicinal solutionextracting orifice is provided at a head section of the nozzle cap, anda cap is screwed onto the head section, in the two-drug pharmaceuticalcontainer, the container main body and the nozzle cap are not loosenedin any case until mixture of two medicinal solutions, these can beeasily removed by breaking a ratchet section at the time of mixture, andfurther, when these are again closed after mixture, this portion is noteasily opened thereafter, therefore, even when the cap is turned in theopening direction, the nozzle cap and the container main body are notloosened in any case, that keeps the closed state, which makes itpossible to remove only the cap.

Means for Solving the Problem

That is, the scope of the present invention is as follows.

[1] A two-drug pharmaceutical container including

a container main body which is filled with a first ingredient, andprovided with a male screw on an outer circumferential surface of anozzle section,

a nozzle cap which has a body section provided with a female screwscrewed together with the male screw on an inner circumferential surfaceof its tube body, a head section including a medicinal solutionextracting orifice communicated with an inside of the body section, anda sealing ring part provided via a plurality of breakable joiningsections which are provided along a circumferential direction on a loweredge of the body section, and

a cap screwed on so as to cover the head section of the nozzle cap, andin the container,

a small diameter annular section with an outer diameter larger than anouter diameter of the male screw of the nozzle section and a largediameter annular section, which is on the lower side of the smalldiameter annular section, with an outer diameter larger than the outerdiameter of the small diameter annular section are provided at a lowerportion of the nozzle section of the container main body, and upperstage external ratchet teeth and lower stage external ratchet teeth arerespectively provided on an outer circumferential surface of the smalldiameter annular section and an outer circumferential surface of thelarge diameter annular section, and on the other hand, upper stageinternal ratchet teeth and lower stage internal ratchet teeth arerespectively provided on an inner circumferential surface of a lowerportion of the body section and an inner circumferential surface of thesealing ring part in the components of the nozzle cap,

and in a closed state in which the female screw of the body section ofthe nozzle cap is screwed together with the male screw of the containermain body to be turned up to a position at which the container main bodyis closed, although the upper stage internal ratchet teeth and the upperstage external ratchet teeth do not engage with each other, the lowerstage internal ratchet teeth and the lower stage external ratchet teethengage with each other to prevent turning in an opening direction, andmoreover,

in a closed state in which the female screw of the body section of thenozzle cap from which the sealing ring part is removed by breaking thejoining sections of the nozzle cap, is screwed together with the malescrew of the container main body, and the container main body is turnedup to the position to be closed, the upper stage internal ratchet teethand the upper stage external ratchet teeth engage with each other toprevent turning in the opening direction.

[2] In the two-drug pharmaceutical container according to [1], adownward protruding piece is provided on the lower edge of the bodysection and an upward protruding piece is provided so as to come closeto the closing side in the circumferential direction from the downwardprotruding piece on an upper edge of the sealing ring part in thecomponents of the nozzle cap, and the front part lower end of thedownward protruding piece is extended downward from the rear part upperend of the upward protruding piece.

[3] The two-drug pharmaceutical container according to [1] or [2], thecontainer is used for any purpose of eye drops, ear drops, and nosedrops.

[4] A method for using the two-drug pharmaceutical container includingthe successive processes of

in use of the two-drug pharmaceutical container according to any one of[1] to [3],

operating the nozzle cap to turn in the opening direction to break thejoining sections and removing the nozzle cap without the sealing ringpart and the sealing ring part from the container main body,

adding a second ingredient into the container main body and operatingthe nozzle cap to turn in the closing direction to close the containermain body, and

operating the cap to turn in the opening direction to remove the capfrom the nozzle cap, and discharging a medicinal solution containing thefirst ingredient and the second ingredient from the medicinal solutionextracting orifice.

Effects of the Invention

According to the two-drug pharmaceutical container of the presentinvention, that is configured so that the lower stage internal ratchetteeth and the lower stage external ratchet teeth engage with each otherto prevent turning in the opening direction before use, the containermain body and the nozzle cap are not easily loosened in any case. Then,when the nozzle cap is operated to turn in the opening direction at thetime of adding a second ingredient, the joining sections are brokenwhile the lower stage internal ratchet teeth and the lower stageexternal ratchet teeth engage with each other to prevent turning in theopening direction, which makes it possible to remove the nozzle cap.Then, since the two-drug pharmaceutical container is configured so thata sealing ring part is removed from the container main body to add asecond ingredient into the container main body containing a firstingredient, and thereafter, when the nozzle cap without a sealing ringpart because of the breakage of the joining sections is operated to turnin the closing direction to close the container main body, and next thecap is operated to turn in the opening direction, the upper stageinternal ratchet teeth and the upper stage external ratchet teeth engagewith each other to prevent turning in the opening direction, the closedstate between the nozzle cap and the container main body is kept, whichmakes it possible to remove only the cap.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a two-drug pharmaceuticalcontainer according to the present invention whose cap is not shown andwhose nozzle cap is partially cut out.

FIG. 2A is a view of the container main body in FIG. 1 viewed fromabove. FIG. 2B is a view of the container main body in FIG. 1 viewedfrom the front.

FIG. 3A is a front half sectional view of the nozzle cap in FIG. 1. FIG.3B is a view of the nozzle cap of FIG. 3A viewed from below.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the nozzle cap in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5A is a longitudinal sectional view showing the state of thecontainer of FIG. 1 before use. FIG. 5B is a longitudinal sectional viewof FIG. 5A taken along line A-A.

FIG. 6A is a longitudinal sectional view showing the state in which thecontainer main body is closed with the nozzle cap from which a sealingring part is removed by breaking joining sections. FIG. 6B is a crosssectional view of FIG. 6A taken along line B-B.

Embodiment for Carrying Out the Invention

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, a two-drug pharmaceutical container accordingto the present invention is composed of a container main body 1, anozzle cap 2, and a cap 3 which are all made of synthetic resin, and canbe suitably used for the purpose of, for example, eye drops, ear drops,nose drops, or the like.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in the container main body 1, a cylindricalbody section 11 which is filled with a first ingredient (not shown), andthe container main body 1 has a nozzle section 12 which is consecutivelyinstalled upward from the body section 11. A male screw 13 is providedon the outer circumferential surface of the nozzle section 12, and asmall diameter annular section 14 with an outer diameter larger than anouter diameter of the male screw 13 and a large diameter annular section15, which is on the lower side of the small diameter annular section 14,with an outer diameter larger than the outer diameter of the smalldiameter annular section 14 are consecutively installed to the lowerportion of the nozzle section 12. Upper stage external ratchet teeth 16and lower stage external ratchet teeth 17 are respectively provided onan outer circumferential surface of the small diameter annular section14 and an outer circumferential surface of the large diameter annularsection 15.

As shown in FIG. 2, the respective teeth composing the upper stageexternal ratchet teeth 16 are formed into the same shape that issaw-like, two groups of the teeth 16 in which five teeth areconsecutively installed at regular pitches are provided so as to faceeach other on the outer circumferential surface of the small diameterannular section 14, and the two teeth 16 are provided so as to face eachother at positions respectively shifted by approximately 90 degrees fromthese groups of the teeth 16 on the outer circumferential surface.Further, the respective teeth composing the lower stage external ratchetteeth 17 are formed into the same shape that is saw-like, and the fourteeth 17 are provided at regular pitches on an outer circumferentialsurface of the large diameter annular section 15.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the nozzle cap 2 forms a cylindrical shapewhere a head section 21, a body section 22, a sealing ring part 23 areintegrally molded in its central axis direction. The body section 22 hasa shorter internal tube 24 and a longer external tube 25 on the outerside of the internal tube 24, and an antislip knurl 26 and a femalescrew 27 screwed together with the male screw 13 of the nozzle section12 are respectively provided on the outer circumferential surface of theexternal tube 25 and the inner circumferential surface of the externaltube 25, and upper stage internal ratchet teeth 28 are provided at thelower portion of the inner circumferential surface of the external tube25.

As shown in FIG. 3, the respective teeth composing the upper stageinternal ratchet teeth 28 are formed into the same shape that issaw-like, and are provided in large numbers so as to go around the innercircumferential surface at regular pitches on the inner circumferentialsurface of the external tube 25.

The sealing ring part 23 has an outer diameter larger than the outerdiameter of the external tube 25, and lower stage internal ratchet teeth29 are provided on the inner circumferential surface of the sealing ringpart 23. The sealing ring part 23 is jointed together with breakablejoining sections 41 which is provided on the lower edge of the bodysection 22 along the circumferential direction through its lower edge,to be jointed together with the body section 22 (refer to FIG. 3).

As shown in FIG. 3, the respective teeth composing the lower stageinternal ratchet teeth 29 are formed into the same shape that issaw-like, and four groups of the teeth 29 in which six teeth areconsecutively installed at regular pitches are provided at regularpitches on the inner circumferential surface of the sealing ring part23.

As shown in an enlarged view of FIG. 4, a downward protruding piece 42is provided on the lower edge of the body section 22, and an upwardprotruding piece 43 is provided so as to come close to the closing sidein the circumferential direction from the downward protruding piece 42(on the left side from the downward protruding piece 42 in FIG. 4) onthe same circumference on an upper edge of the sealing ring part 23 inthe components of the nozzle cap 2, and the front part lower end of thedownward protruding piece 42 is extended downward from the rear partupper end of the upward protruding piece 43.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, the head section 21 is provided with amale screw 21 a on its outer circumferential surface, and is providedwith a medicinal solution extracting orifice 21 b communicated with aninside of the body section 22 in its apical portion. Further, as shownin FIGS. 5 and 6, the cap 3 includes an apical wall 31 and a tubesection 33 which is installed vertically downward from the peripheraledge of the apical wall 31 and provided with a male screw 32 screwedtogether with the male screw 21 a of the head section 21 on its innercircumferential surface.

As described above, in the container according to the present invention,the male screw 13 of the container main body 1 and the female screw 27of the nozzle cap 2, and the male screw 21 a of the head section 21 ofthe nozzle cap 2 and the female screw 32 of the cap 3 are respectivelyscrewed together, as a result, the container main body 1, the nozzle cap2, and the cap 3 are screwed to each other (refer to FIG. 5).

As shown in FIG. 5, the container according to the present invention isconfigured so that, in a closed state in which the female screw 27 ofthe body section 22 of the nozzle cap 2 is screwed together with themale screw 13 of the container main body 1 to be turned up to a positionat which the container main body 1 is closed, although the upper stageinternal ratchet teeth 28 and the upper stage external ratchet teeth 16do not engage with each other, the lower stage internal ratchet teeth 29and the lower stage external ratchet teeth 17 engage with each other toprevent turning in the opening direction (in the direction of an arrowof FIG. 5B). Accordingly, the container main body 1 and the nozzle cap 2are not loosened before use in any case.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 6, the container according to the presentinvention is configured so that, in a closed state in which the sealingring part 23 is removed from the container main body 1 by breaking thejoining sections 41 of the nozzle cap 2, and the female screw 27 of thebody section 22 of the nozzle cap 2 without the sealing ring part 23 isscrewed together with the male screw 13 of the container main body 1 tobe turned up to the position at which the container main body 1 isclosed, the upper stage internal ratchet teeth 28 and the upper stageexternal ratchet teeth 16 engage with each other to prevent turning inthe opening direction (in the direction of an arrow of FIG. 6B).Accordingly, provided that the cap 3 is turned in the opening direction(in a counterclockwise direction viewed from above) in this state, theclosed state between the nozzle cap 2 and the container main body 1 iskept, which makes it possible to remove only the cap 3.

In use of the container, first, the nozzle cap 2 is operated to turn inthe opening direction to remove the nozzle cap 2 from the container mainbody 1 (first step), next, a second ingredient (not shown) is added intothe container main body 1 and the nozzle cap 2 is again operated to turnin the closing direction to close the container main body 1 (secondstep), and next, the cap 3 is operated to turn in the opening directionto remove the cap 3 from the nozzle cap 2, to discharge a medicinalsolution containing the first ingredient and the second ingredient fromthe medicinal solution extracting orifice 21 b (third step).

In the first step, when the nozzle cap 2 is operated to turn in theopening direction (in the direction of an arrow in FIG. 5B), the lowerstage internal ratchet teeth 29 and the lower stage external ratchetteeth 17 engage with each other to apply force to prevent turning in theopening direction. Meanwhile, when the nozzle cap 2 is operated to turnin the opening direction against the force, the joining sections 41 areeasily broken to allow the nozzle cap 2 to be removed from the containermain body 1.

In the second step, after the sealing ring part 23 provided separatelyfrom the nozzle cap 2 is removed from the container main body 1 bybreaking the joining sections 41 in the first step, the nozzle cap 2without the sealing ring part 23 is operated to turn in the closingdirection to close the container main body 1.

In the third step, when the cap 3 is turned in the opening direction (ina counterclockwise direction viewed from above), the upper stageinternal ratchet teeth 28 and the upper stage external ratchet teeth 16engage with each other to apply force to prevent turning in the openingdirection (in the direction of an arrow of FIG. 6B). Therefore, evenwhen the cap 3 is operated to turn in the opening direction, the closedstate between the nozzle cap 2 and the container main body 1 is kept,which makes it possible to remove only the cap 3.

At the time of manufacturing the container according to the presentinvention, included is a process that the body section 11 of thecontainer main body 1 is filled with a first ingredient, and thereafter,the female screw 27 of the body section 22 of the nozzle cap 2 isscrewed together with the male screw 13 of the container main body 1 tobe operated to turn in the closing direction, to allow the nozzle cap 2to be screwed onto the container main body 1. In the above-describedprocess, the turning operation is terminated when the sealing ring part23 is turned up to a predetermined position shown in FIG. 5A and thelower stage internal ratchet teeth 29 and the lower stage externalratchet teeth 17 engage with each other. However, when the turningoperation is further continued, the body section 22 may be excessivelyturned to break the joining sections 41. Then, in the present invention,the front end of the downward protruding piece 42 comes into contactwith the rear end of the upward protruding piece 43 to regulateexcessive turning of the body section 22, to perform an appropriateturning operation.

The embodiment of the two-drug pharmaceutical container according to thepresent invention has been described above. However, the presentinvention is not limited to only the above-described embodiment. As longas the two-drug pharmaceutical container is configured so that only thelower stage internal and external ratchet teeth 17 and 29 engage witheach other to prevent turning in the opening direction in a closed statebefore use, and is configured so that the upper stage internal andexternal ratchet teeth 16 and 28 engage with each other to preventturning in the opening direction in a state in which the container mainbody is closed with the nozzle cap 2 without the sealing ring part 23,the shapes, the numbers of teeth, the pitches, the positionalrelationships of height or the like, and the like of the upper and lowerstage and internal and external ratchet teeth can be appropriatelychanged.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention may have broad applicability as a two-drugpharmaceutical container in which its container main body and nozzle capare not loosened before use, and when the cap is turned in the openingdirection at the time of administering eye drops or the like, the nozzlecap and the container main body are not loosened to keep the closedstate, which makes it possible to remove only the cap.

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

1 Container main body

2 Nozzle cap

3 Cap

12 Nozzle section

13 Male screw

14 Small diameter annular section

15 Large diameter annular section

16 Upper stage external ratchet teeth

17 Lower stage external ratchet teeth

21 Head section

21 b Medicinal solution extracting orifice

22 Body section

23 Sealing ring part

25 External tube

27 Female screw

28 Upper stage internal ratchet teeth

29 Lower stage internal ratchet teeth

41 Joining sections

42 Downward protruding piece

43 Upward protruding piece

1. A two-drug pharmaceutical container comprising; a container main bodywhich is filled with a first ingredient, and provided with a male screwon an outer circumferential surface of a nozzle section; a nozzle capwhich has a body section provided with a female screw screwed togetherwith the male screw on an inner circumferential surface of its tubebody, a head section including a medicinal solution extracting orificecommunicated with an inside of the body section, and a sealing ring partprovided via a plurality of breakable joining sections which areprovided along a circumferential direction on a lower edge of the bodysection; and a cap screwed on so as to cover the head section of thenozzle cap, wherein a small diameter annular section with an outerdiameter larger than an outer diameter of the male screw of the nozzlesection and a large diameter annular section, which is on the lower sideof the small diameter annular section, with an outer diameter largerthan the outer diameter of the small diameter annular section areprovided at a lower portion of the nozzle section of the container mainbody, and upper stage external ratchet teeth and lower stage externalratchet teeth are respectively provided on an outer circumferentialsurface of the small diameter annular section and an outercircumferential surface of the large diameter annular section, and onthe other hand, upper stage internal ratchet teeth and lower stageinternal ratchet teeth are respectively provided on an innercircumferential surface of a lower portion of the body section and aninner circumferential surface of the sealing ring part in the componentsof the nozzle cap, and in a closed state in which the female screw ofthe body section of the nozzle cap is screwed together with the malescrew of the container main body to be turned up to a position at whichthe container main body is closed, although the upper stage internalratchet teeth and the upper stage external ratchet teeth do not engagewith each other, the lower stage internal ratchet teeth and the lowerstage external ratchet teeth engage with each other to prevent turningin an opening direction, and moreover, in a closed state in which thejoining sections of the nozzle cap are broken to remove the sealing ringpart from the container main body, and the female screw of the bodysection of the nozzle cap without the sealing ring part is screwedtogether with the male screw of the container main body to be turned upto the position at which the container main body is closed, the upperstage internal ratchet teeth and the upper stage external ratchet teethengage with each other to prevent turning in the opening direction. 2.The two-drug pharmaceutical container according to claim 1, wherein adownward protruding piece is provided on the lower edge of the bodysection and an upward protruding piece is provided so as to come closeto the closing side in the circumferential direction from the downwardprotruding piece on an upper edge of the sealing ring part in thecomponents of the nozzle cap, and the front part lower end of thedownward protruding piece is extended downward from the rear part upperend of the upward protruding piece.
 3. The two-drug pharmaceuticalcontainer according to claim 1, the container is used for any purpose ofeye drops, ear drops, and nose drops.
 4. A method for using the two-drugpharmaceutical container comprising the successive steps of: in use ofthe two-drug pharmaceutical container according to claim 1, operatingthe nozzle cap to turn in the opening direction to break the joiningsections, and removing the nozzle cap without the sealing ring part andthe sealing ring part from the container main body; adding a secondingredient into the container main body and operating the nozzle cap toturn in the closing direction to close the container main body; andoperating the cap to turn in the opening direction to remove the capfrom the nozzle cap, and discharging a medicinal solution containing thefirst ingredient and the second ingredient from the medicinal solutionextracting orifice.
 5. The two-drug pharmaceutical container accordingto claim 2, the container is used for any purpose of eye drops, eardrops, and nose drops.
 6. A method for using the two-drug pharmaceuticalcontainer comprising the successive steps of: in use of the two-drugpharmaceutical container according to claim 2, operating the nozzle capto turn in the opening direction to break the joining sections, andremoving the nozzle cap without the sealing ring part and the sealingring part from the container main body; adding a second ingredient intothe container main body and operating the nozzle cap to turn in theclosing direction to close the container main body; and operating thecap to turn in the opening direction to remove the cap from the nozzlecap, and discharging a medicinal solution containing the firstingredient and the second ingredient from the medicinal solutionextracting orifice.
 7. A method for using the two-drug pharmaceuticalcontainer comprising the successive steps of: in use of the two-drugpharmaceutical container according to claim 3, operating the nozzle capto turn in the opening direction to break the joining sections, andremoving the nozzle cap without the sealing ring part and the sealingring part from the container main body; adding a second ingredient intothe container main body and operating the nozzle cap to turn in theclosing direction to close the container main body; and operating thecap to turn in the opening direction to remove the cap from the nozzlecap, and discharging a medicinal solution containing the firstingredient and the second ingredient from the medicinal solutionextracting orifice.